Russia Seeks To Block Telegram In Showdown Over Internet Freedom

The regulator had cited requests from the FSB, the principal security agency of Russian Federation, that access to the app's encryption keys was needed in order to unscramble encrypted messages within the app.

Citing respect for users privacy, Telegram refused access for the intelligence services who were reportedly following leads of terrorist activity, and now faces being banned in the country.

From this year they must also store all the data of Russian users inside the country, according to controversial anti-terror legislation passed in 2016 which was decried by internet companies and the opposition.

In its court filing, Roskomnadzorsaid the legal action was related to the FSB request and Telegram's non-compliance with its legal requirements as a "distributor of information". "The law is the law, and if it is not complied with [by Telegram] and relevant measures are taken, we will look for an alternative that best suits our needs", Peskov told reporters, commenting on the issue.

"The FSB's requirements to provide access to private conversations of users are unconstitutional, baseless, which can not be fulfilled technically and legally", he said, in a statement. Since passing new legislation in 2016 which forces messenger services to provide authorities with a backdoor into encryption, Russian Federation has been clamping down heavily on online communications.

U.S. markets erase earlier losses
Neither set of tariffs goes into effect immediately. "The trade implications between the US and China are far from complete". U.S. officials sought to downplay the threat of a broader trade dispute, saying a negotiated outcome is still possible.

"Threats to block Telegram unless it gives up private data of its users won't bear fruit". A Moscow court dismissed that lawsuit last month.

The messaging app is widely used across Russian Federation and many nations in the Middle East.

Telegram's lawyer Akhmetgaliev noted that the FSB's demand for the encryption keys violated the right to privacy, to which the FSB representative said: "the information requested is not one constituting the secrecy of correspondence". The service recently celebrated achieving a new milestone of 200 million active users per month. Durov outright refused, even though the Russian government has threatened to ban Telegram if it failed to cooperate.

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